


Star Wars: A Bounty's Luck

by Captain_Kiri_Storm



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Boba Fett - Freeform, Bounty Hunters, Darth Vader is a Little Shit, F/M, Imperial Officers (Star Wars), Insecure Luke, Millennium Falcon - Freeform, Star Wars - Freeform, The Author Got Bored, The Author Loves Clones, for my best friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 00:46:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 11,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7663693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Kiri_Storm/pseuds/Captain_Kiri_Storm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Boba meant to do was keep Jabba from killing his favorite pet. He never intended to wind up with the slave herself. He also never intended to end up on the side of the Rebellion, running across the galaxy, and helping an insecure Jedi find love. All Boba wanted was another easy job, but he wound up doing the good thing and saving someone's life.<br/>No one ever said Boba Fett was a hero...<br/>And he intends to keep it that way.<br/>But the best laid plans of mice and men tend to go awry...and one Twi'lek with a new Mandalorian name just might make his life far harder than it has to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sand Blasted

The harsh light of Tatooine burned your eyes, even if you were wearing a helm. Sand had a way of getting everywhere, even through your armor. You always had to watch your back, be careful of the places where the Sand People lurked. Jango had always said they'd like to get in there and rip up a Mandalorian Warrior. But Boba was never going to give them that chance. He was too smart for that, always lurking in the shadows. Keeping his armor on. Hiding the fact that he was a clone. If Lord Vader knew, all the lucrative jobs would go away and he'd be just another meat bag in the Emperor's labs. Boba played a dangerous game, as he very well knew. If he slipped up, he'd get himself killed.

That was why no one would see his face. **Ever**.

The bright, burning desert light filtered through his helm, but Boba ignored it. He felt none of it as he walked. There were ways to medically lower your temperature. Chill pills, the little Farghul who sold them said. Boba had worked with an unstable Cathar woman, Irene Terra of the _Rustbucket_ , and felt that she needed a chill pill for real. Terra had finally driven him off with her weird yellow eyes and the way she snarled. You looked at her and you felt the rage that lay buried, just beneath the surface. Terra was a bomb waiting to go off. Cradossk and Bossk were fixing to have a **mess** on their hands.

He raised his head, checking his HUD. Nothing stirred, except the desert wind. Coming here was always a challenge without a skiff. Boba supposed he could use a jet pack, but the fuel didn't come cheap. Besides, he didn't want to bother the pride of sandcats who had recently taken up residence near Jabba's Palace. He could always catch the daily shuttle from Mos Eisley out to the Wastes, but that would ruin the mystique behind the great Boba Fett, the man who walked in the desert and didn't feel the heat.

_**Fools.** _

Behind him, the desert stretched out like a flat expanse of canvas. Dipped in golds and browns, it was a far cry from the drab, harsh Kamino of his youth. As a child, Boba had seen things one could never unsee. He'd seen the Jedi putting down the Alphas and watched the Zygerrian slave breaks wrestle bits in the mouths of rebellious ARC troopers. He'd seen the great Akk dogs patrolling the outside rip a man to shreds. Boba had grown up in a place designed to destroy what made you human and leave you an obedient shell. His father had taught him how to fight and kill like a true _Mando'a_ Warrior. Boba intended to make his father proud.

The Gamorrean guard in front of him lifted his spear. Like all of them, the beast wondered how Boba managed to walk the Dune Sea and the Wastes. Boba hoped the idiot didn't see the ship nestled a few miles out. _Slave I_ , the last gift from his father that he had. Boba was going to protect that ship to his last breath.

Despite the chill pill he'd taken earlier, the cool darkness of the entrance tunnel made him feel much better. Boba seemed to stalk down the tunnel, his heavy boots silent upon the floor. He'd learned how to stalk like this from a clone assassin, one of the few men Boba wouldn't mind seeing again. But the Clone Wars had called and that clone was soon lost to the sands of time. Boba didn't even remember his name, but he did remember the scars and tattoos the man had, the way he talked of killing Sith and Jedi. And if you looked at his _vod'ika_ , a young clone called Chaos, the wrong way, that scarred clone killed you if you were lucky.

 _ **<** Ho, ho! Look who has returned! **>**_ Jabba thundered.

Boba turned his helmeted head towards the big slug. His gaze lingered over the foul, slimy body, to the way he just threw himself over the dais. He didn't bow, but he didn't step on top of the ornate grate, either. Nor did he look at the half naked Twi'lek sitting beside him. She had enough grace to have been taught by that long dead clone himself. Maybe it was natural, but she was graceful and she had _tracyn_ in her eyes.

"It wasn't that hard," Boba shrugged. "Kid gave me the thing back once he saw who I was." He tossed the Sapphire Eye on the ground in front of Jabba, watching the greedy Hutt. "Now. About my fee."

 _ **<** Greedy little thing! **>**_ Jabba laughed.

Behind his helm, Boba rolled his eyes. _**<** I speak Huttese, by the way. **>**_

That sobered the big worm up a bit. _**<** What do you want, Son of Jango? I've already paid your stipend. **>**_

"I'd like for you to be careful where you send me," Boba smoothly replied. "I ran into Irene Terra again. She seems to think that I'm the person who killed that Inquisitor a few months ago. But, as I failed to remind her, Terra pulled the trigger."

_And got her fool self blinded. Cathars._

The Twi'lek was watching him, but Boba paid her no mind. Most likely, she was a vapid as Terra was mad. That Cathar was off in the head. She meant to kill whoever had ordered the attack on her village and Boba pitied the poor soul she finally snapped on. Terra also hated Boba and loved Dengar. She was a mad one and there was very little that made sense about her.

 _ **<** Terra is not under my control, **>**_ Jabba reminded him. He turned his slit yellow eyes on Boba. Boba calmly looked back. _**<** I hear it Cradossk's Cat has made quite the name for herself and even taken lovers. **>**_

"I only fought the Cat," Boba shrugged. "If she had lovers, I never saw them." But Terra needed someone to keep her in check. She was from House Clawtooth, a bounty hunter syndicate that operated on the Fringes. They were a rough lot. And Terra was a rough character.

_**<** I tried to hire the Cat. **>**_

**That** required an absolute lack of intelligence. Terra was a murderous killer and she had fangs, teeth, and poisoned daggers. You never saw her coming. If you could see the Cat, you were fine. But if you were the prey and you **couldn't** see the Cat, you were as good as dead.

"I'm glad that didn't go through," Boba said. "She would have destroyed this palace with her flame thrower."

"She has a _flame thrower_?" one of the scrub hunters muttered. "Awesome! I wanna meet her!"

The Twi'lek cocked her pretty head. Boba ignored her, as he always did. The Twi'lek spoke a fair number of languages, even Lirian, which said that Jabba was trying to get involved with the Shadow Knights. Why they hadn't killed him yet was anybody's guess. Sometimes Shadow Knights just felt like killing and they left a mess behind them. Boba supposed that Twi'lek had probably talked Jabba's way out of several sticky situations. He'd heard about the water hauler who turned out to be a Jedi and the smugglers who set off bombs as a way to get even with the Hutt. You could still see the scorch marks in the walls.

Plus the new skylight, which hadn't been there a month ago. Boba wondered what they'd used and where he could get some.

"You don't want to meet Cradossk's Cat," Boba assured him. "I have and she tried to claw my face off."

The Twi'lek laughed. _**<** I wonder if she could get through that thick skull of his. **>**_

Boba decided to ignore that. After all, he wasn't here for a fight. But what he was here for happened to be Luke Skywalker and his smuggler friend Han Solo. He just needed to cut this whole thing short.

_**<** A feast! To celebrate the return of the Sapphire Eye! **>**_

Boba tried not to groan. The very last thing he wanted to do was get caught up in another feast. He also had no idea what Jabba wanted with a Shadow Knight artifact. He just hoped this one didn't explode, or act like the dragon statue that tried to murder everyone who sat beside it. Boba finally used that thing for target practice in _Slave I_. The other Shadow Knight trinket Jabba had was called Thorne's Fire. That one was a cursed lump of onyx that exploded everyone who tried to touch it without the stone's permission.

He also wondered who the Shadow Master was letting dabble in animating things and decided that he really didn't want to know. As long as the Shadow Knights didn't give their things to the Empire, Boba was okay with them making nasty little artifacts, then loosing them.

Maybe not the losing things part. He'd about been driven mad by the Sapphire Eye.

_Why did it have to show me a **dog**?!_

Boba resigned himself to spending another two days in this little rat pit. He just hoped the Shadow Knights didn't show up to get their Eye back.


	2. Is This Over Yet?

The Mandalorian bounty hunter sat in his corner, brooding. If Jabba had noticed that he hadn't removed his helm, he said nothing. As it was, the fat Hutt was probably high. He was smoking on his hookah and enjoying a dance from the slave girls he had. That Twi'lek he had with him also looked a good deal more scary with a spear in her hands and a blaster on her hip. He closed his eyes, trying to get his bearings. Boba needed to get in his suite of rooms. He wanted _out_. It would be a good day when he finally didn't need the fat worm financing his missions.

Then again, working for Vader had its share of bad things.

A Cathar passed him, one big nick out of his ear. "Fett."

"Tirsane." Boba moved, letting the pirate sit on the ledge beside you. He didn't like the big alien, but Tirsane had been friendly with his father. Tirsane also tended to watch Boba's six. He'd hated it when he was a kid, but the Cathar had saved his life several times before. Tirsane had a sixth sense, almost, and he was well known for making sure Boba lived another day. "How's life been treating you?"

"Decent." Tirsane nibbled some of the roast meat. "You're not eating?"

"I don't trust him." Boba gestured in Jabba's general direction.

"Ah. Might be the best idea." Tirsane glared at the chunk he was gnawing on . Then the Cathar shrugged and ripped off a chunk with his jaws. Boba winced. He'd never liked seeing those heavy jaws and sharp fangs in action. Add in the fact that Tirsane walked around with his claws unsheathed... It made you wary of him. He tended to fight you from behind. Tirsane was a killer, even if he hid it well. "I'm pretty sure this ain't pig, if ya get my drift."

"Probably bantha," Boba agreed. He gave Tirsane a nasty look, not that it helped.

"I was thinking some poor sot who got on the worm's bad side." Tirsane took another bite and shrugged. "Tastes good, anyways."

Cathars were crazy. They'd drink brandy used to pickle a dead body (Jango had told him that story. Apparently, Tirsane had grabbed the stuff from some state funeral and given it to Jango. Jango went and barfed in the streets after he learned) and eat everything that tasted good. Tirsane didn't care. Cathars were killers. They were carnivores pure and simple. They could go blood mad and kill a berserker if they got their minds to it. Boba had seen Terra go mad with it the blood rage. She'd ripped someone up and licked the blood off her claws.

"You're nasty," Boba muttered.

"Tis life, princeling," Tirsane shrugged. He tipped one greasy claw towards the dancing Twi'lek girl. "She had your training? Give her a gun and she'll be good."

"She's a vapid airhead," Boba growled. He looked at the dirty sandstone.

Tirsane snorted. "You ain't seen her when Azira Lor comes to town. That Shadow Knight chick is _scary_! She gives you a look and you wanna go hide in yer boots for the next hour! That girl, she look at Lor, and she say, You're not gonna do that here. You're not gonna walk all over us. She say it in Lirian, too!"

"Half of the Outer Rim can speak Lirian," Boba argued. He reached for the flask he always carried with himself, wondering if he could get the drink under his helm. Probably not. This wasn't the best place for him, Boba knew. "Liria has her paws in everything, Cathar. You know that."

"Don't patronize me." Tirsane punched Boba in the shoulder. Boba kicked Tirsane in the shin. The Cathar rolled his eyes and licked the grease off of his claws before wiping it off on his trousers. He leaned back and flopped one arm over Boba's back. There was question about Jango and Tirsane's relationship. Boba had often wondered. He'd even asked the Cathar, but Tirsane had just smiled and told him that it wasn't Boba's place to ask. "Now. You like that girl, no?"

"What are you playing at?" Boba sighed.

"You done it yet?" Tirsane smirked. He turned around, grinning. Despite the grey that mottled his fur and the age in his eyes, Tirsane moved like a much younger man. "Or are you too scared to let it you?"

"You dirty old man!" Boba yelped. He hit the top of his helm, looking at Tirsane in shock. "Why do you care if I've done it or not?"

"Cause life's too short to keep it in all the time," Tirsane shrugged. He sat back down, a cocky smile on his lips. The big Cathar was pretty big, but he was showing his age. If he was in the mood, he'd even tell Boba about his days as a bounty hunter with Boba. "Twas yer dad's problem. But he got hisself cloned, so I guess that's all that counts. Yer a good lad, Boba, but yer not all that socialized."

Boba rolled his eyes. "Excuse me if I don't want to catch a _social disease_."

Tirsane laughed. "Use a barrier, then!"

"I'm not going to argue with you," Boba sighed. He got up, leaving Tirsane in the dust. He needed to get away from the crazy old Cathar. You could only take so much Tirsane before you wanted to throw something. He was a big mess, but he knew what he was doing. The Cat, by the way, was completely mad and she wanted to kill Boba. Boba wanted to live, so he wasn't going to mess with her.

He took a seat by the front of the room. Jabba looked too out of it to notice him. The Twi'lek girl, though, looked very much alert. She was doing one of her little dances. Though it sounded so very pretty, Boba knew that she was singing an old slave's song. It was heart breaking if you understood the words. Boba, though, was pretty sure that half these idiots didn't speak Twi'leki. And they didn't understand what her lekku were saying, either.

Hot amber eyes locked with his and Boba looked away. The last thing he needed to deal with was...her. The last woman he had a crush on threw him aside for one of his father's clones.

The Twi'lek sang something about following the Northern star. Boba tapped his shin as he thought. This wasn't going to end well. Something was going to happen, he could feel it. Boba knew a lot of old slave's songs, the clones on Kamino had sang them. What came next was a line about using your own slavery to choke your Master.

Right before Boba's eyes, the girl grabbed her chain and wrapped it around the fat Hutt's throat. Boba jumped up. As much as he tried not to care, this girl was still one of the few people who didn't refer to him as "Jabba's Hound". She started to pull and the blistering curses that exploded from her mouth would have made Tirsane proud.

"Go to hell, you karking slug!" she screamed. And that was when the grate opened under her feet.


	3. Big Mistake

This was such a bad idea. Boba usually liked to think things through, but he'd made a few impulsive choices in his time. Going hunting with Irene Terra was one of them. Talking with Tirsane was another and probably a worse one. All in all, Boba wasn't nearly as good as he liked to think and he knew it. After all, he'd been rubbing elbows with a half mad Cathar five minutes before. But all Boba could do was whip out his blaster and jam the mechanism. The Twi'lek took that as an opportunity to slide into a roll and start running.

One of the guards grabbed her and threw the girl in front of Boba. "What do we do with her, Master?"

 _ **<** How badly is that grate damaged? **>**_ Jabba asked. The giant slug looked over at Boba. Boba cocked his blaster and aimed it at him. _**<** So soon to turn on your friend, son of Jango? **>**_

"You're no one's friend," Boba spat. He glared at the alien, not taking his finger off the trigger. Jabba oozed over to one side. The Twi'lek seemed like she was trying to get her wits about her. Boba ignored the creature and elbowed a human guard in the gut when he tried to grab him. "Hands off the armor, barve! You'll scratch it!" Someone chuckled. Boba ignored it. He's probably really karked up with that shot, but he wasn't in the mood for anyone's shit. "Anyone care to explain why the Great Jabba is going to kill the one person who keeps the Shadow Knights from killing him?"

As expected, no one had a good response. Boba could work with that.

 _ **<** She tried to **kill** me! **>**_ Jabba snapped.

And that was when a very drunk Tirsane staggered up beside Boba. The Mandalorian man groaned, looking over at his father's best friend. The Cathar offered him a stick grin before propping himself up on a guard's armor. "Jabba! Old buddy, old pal! Surely ya can't get a guy for having a loose trigger finger! How many rogues ya gotta kick out if ya do?"

Boba groaned. Tirsane was drunk and only making things worse. The Twi'lek was yanked to her feet. Boba wondered if he'd saved her from a fate worse than death. Some of the guards weren't human. They were bigger than a human or Twi'lek and they might kill her. She wasn't going to get an easy death either way. If it came to it, Boba would put a blast through her head and save her the misery. He wasn't a cruel man, no matter how things might seem.

 _ **<** I do not take well to a slave girl trying to kill me **>**_ , Jabba hissed. He leaned down, looking the Twi'lek over. She didn't flinch. _ ** <**Even a delectable little morsel like her doesn't get any special treatment. **>**_

Her eyes flashed and she used Standard. "I have a name! Use it!"

Boba stepped forward, ignoring the drunk Cathar. "She's kept Liria from gutting you in your sleep. You might want to treat her better. Me, if someone was keeping the Shadow Knights from dispatching a few hunters down here to kill you, I'd be nice to her. She speaks Lirian pretty fluently from what I've heard. And you don't."

Boba didn't speak Lirian. He spoke Mando'a, Standard, and a little Shyriiwook. You could blame his little misadventure with Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Lando a few months back. Some idiot had commed all of them to try and find this "treasure". It wound up with all of them running for their lives from Imperial forces. Several people died, the "treasure" turned out to be worthless, and he got treated like a rag doll by the Wookiee. All because he took a blaster bolt for Solo's pet. It wasn't like it could have hurt him! Boba was wearing armor!

 _ **<** You can get slaves who speak Lirian. **>**_ Jabba swept is tail towards the Twi'lek. She didn't flinch. She just looked at him with a coldness that rivaled the Princess Leia. He dropped his tail on top of her. She shrugged it off. One of the human guards yanked her back by the lekku. The Twi'lek yelped in pain. Boba tried to keep his cool. He knew that pulling her lekku could seriously hurt her. Lekku were like a dog's ear.

"We can take this one out back and no more slave," The guard smiled.

 _ **<** I was thinking the Sarlacc, **>**_ Jabba mused. He looked back at the slave. If she blanched, she didn't show it. Boba felt for the girl. He was going to shoot her so she didn't suffer for a thousand years. No one deserved that.

"Or just let me take care of the problem." Boba walked up and put the muzzle of his blaster to the slave girl's head. The look she gave him was heart breaking. Boa ignored it and focused on the Hutt. One little move with his finger and she'd be safe from this bastard forever. One little move. Boba clicked off the safety. "Bang. End of problem."

_And the end of an innocent life, but that's gonna happen either way. This way she goes out better. No one's gonna torture her to death. No one's gonna do things no one should ever do. Nothing's going to eat her. Just one little blast and she's dead. Everyone gets what they want--except for her._

It wasn't fair, but it was the way things went in this cold, hard galaxy of theirs.

"Boba can take her on _Slave I_!" Tirsane blurted. He staggered up beside Boba and knocked the blaster to the ground. "Put that away, son. You'll hurt someone."

"You're drunk!" Boba snarled. He shoved Tirsane away. "I can handle it myself!"

Tirsane picked himself up. He was clearly drunk and Boba could smell the alcohol on his fur. He was a big Cathar, probably bigger than Boba. Even with his age, Tirsane was still a fighter. He still had his claws and he still had his fangs.

"We all need someone on our six," Tirsane advised. And then he fell to his knees and started vomiting. Repeatedly. Hopefully, Jabba was not going to take the word of a very drunk Cathar. At least Boba hoped this brew hadn't been used to pickle a dead body. Then again, it wouldn't matter which, because Cathars were almost the scavengers of the alien world.

 _ **<** You can take her or let my guards have their fun, **>**_ Jabba smiled.

It was a no brainer. Boba wasn't a murder. He was a bounty hunter and there was a difference. He didn't kill unless he could help it. Boba helped the Twi'lek up.

"I'll be needing her papers," Boba spat.


	4. Not My Best Move

Boba wanted to throw the data pad out the window. His dad had wound up with one to get **him** away from the Kaminoans. As far as Boba knew, his father had destroyed the only set of slave papers Boba had. But there were still times when Boba feared there was still a set of papers out there on him. He would always be marked as a slave with the tattoos on the back of his neck. He was marked. Boba might not have a control chip in his head, but he was still tattooed like a typical clone slave. This Twi'lek girl had scars on her mind, not on her body.

He took the data pad from the slimy looking albino Twi'lek. "You. Girl. Get up."

"You better obey your Master," a Weequay sneered. Boba tried to ignore him. The last thing he needed was to get in a fight. He was already pushing it here with helping the Twi'lek girl out. Speaking of, she was going to need a new name. If memory served, her slave name was Oola. As far as Boba knew, it was a derogatory term given to a slave. He wasn't sure of the exact translation, but it wasn't very nice. And he was going to leave it at that. The Twi'lek girl pressed to him, her amber eyes wide in fear. Boba put one hand on his blaster. It was a warning enough for the other male to back off.

Tirsane picked himself up from the floor. He wiped off his hand and looked at the others. "You doin' all right, Boba?"

"I'm fine," Boba growled. He resisted the urge to slap the other man in the head. Or kick him. Because Tirsane was drunk. Tirsane was so drunk that he was barfing on the floor. He moved the Twi'lek girl over, trying to keep her out of the vomiting Cathar. She was probably used to such things, he gathered from her clothing, but she didn't need to get barfed on by drunk Cathar. Tirsane was probably going to dry out in the dungeons. "You, on the other hand, are a wreck."

Tirsane laughed and fell in a heap. "That's good. That's real good. Have fun, brother." And then he passed out, his ass firmly in a puddle of vomit.

"Who is he?" The Twi'lek whispered in the stunned silence that followed. Boba rubbed the top of his helm. How did he explain this? That this old drunk Cathar was his father's best friend? Jango had been known for making poor choices. While he wasn't the galaxy's greatest father, he did try. Like all of the times he left Boba on Kamino whilst he went hunting. Jango had wanted to protect his son from the big, bad galaxy. He hadn't wanted his son to see them drag a clone to a gas chamber and execute him. Boba and his brother Cody had cried after they saw one of the droids toss the man's dead body to the circling sharks below. Jango would have gone ballistic if he'd known.

"His name is Tirsane." Boba side stepped the drunk Cathar. "Come on. We want to go before he changes his mind." Him being Jabba, of course. Boba wasn't going to be welcome back here, at least for a few months. That was okay. He'd done this before. Boba could get another job from the Empire. Or, if he had to, from the Rebel Alliance. They **always** needed someone assassinated and Boba was pretty good at that. He took her hand and walked through the crowd of sentients. It wasn't often someone challenged Jabba and lived. Boba had done that. He'd done it and he'd came out on top.

"The ship's about a mile out," Boba informed her. "I don't actually cross the desert on foot."

"That's...new," she admitted.

Boba turned around and dropped the chain on the rocks surrounding the walls. "You need a new name. I'm not calling you Oola."

She put her hands on her hips as she followed him. "I hope you know I'm barefoot."

"Tough. Get some boots and a new name," Boba retorted. He really didn't want a fight, but it was looking like that was what they were aiming for. Well, boba could deal with it. He was tough. He did a lot of things that probably wasn't in his best plan of action. Because he was Boba Fett and that was usually the way he rolled. If someone didn't like that, it was up to them to leave. He started walking, not caring that the slight Twi'lek was trying to keep up. Boba resisted the urge to look over his shoulder. He did look up, though, when the sky started to darken and the wind picked up.

He fell back. She drew his cloak over her body, her eyes cool and focused. Boba looked down. He grimaced when he saw the trail of bloody foot prints that trailed off behind her. That was a way to get the predators after you... Boba shook his head. He needed to focus on finding his ship, not on the Twi'lek with no shoes. It wouldn't be good for anyone if they died out here because he was an idiot and lost his ship. Yeah, that was usually how he thought. He focused on the job at hand, though, not on the Twi'lek girl. His father had played the hero and died for it. Boba wouldn't repeat Jango's mistakes.

He checked the GPS app in his helm. They were right on track. He slowed down a little for the Twi'lek. Boba was going to insist on a name for her soon. He had an idea, Zumi Vel, but he wasn't sure she'd like it. And them Boba wondered why he even cared. Wasn't he the big, bad bounty hunter who was made of stone? That was what the holos said, anyway!

" _Slave I_ has a bit of a temper," Boba reported. He looked back at her, narrowing her eyes through her helm. "It'll take a few days to write you into my security systems. So don't mess with the bridge. My father wrote some rather nasty sequences into the software."

"Just give me a name," she sighed. The Twi'lek sat down on a rock as Boba tapped in the control sequence.

"You seem rather mouthy for a slave," Boba casually said. And then he kicked himself, because he was fairly sure she was glaring daggers at him. "Not that I'm going to try anything..." He sighed. "I've always like the name Zumi Vel."

_She was one of Jango's biggest irritations, but she pretty much raised me. Damn Tarkin for having her killed!_

"I like it," she softly said. "Zumi Vel."

That was when Boba dropped the ship's hatch. He scooped Zumi up and carried her to the medical bay. After all, it wouldn't do to have her feet get infected because he was an idiot.


	5. Zumi

Zumi was rather cooperative as he tended to her wounds. She'd taken it rather well, seeing as he'd been the one to make her walk through all of it. Hmm. That thought did give Boba pause. He wasn't a forgiving man under the best of situations, but he couldn't imagine a walk across the desert barefoot. He did remember one of his father's friends, a bounty hunter named Nefret. They called her Nefret of the Green Eyes because her eyes were like twin emeralds. She wasn't the nicest person to cross and she argued with Jango. They weren't _friends_ , but they weren't trying to kill each other, either. That meant quite a lot to Boba. Plenty of people tried to shoot at him because of Jango.

Boba had all of the supplies measured out. He knew what to and he'd doctored himself in the past. He gave Zumi a wet rage to clean her feet with. For someone who had been about to die several hours before, she was remarkably calm. It seemed like Zumi had a level head on her shoulders. Boba liked that about her. He felt like he could trust her to do what needed to be done when  it needed to be done. He couldn't trust everyone like that. All he gave her was a healing accelerator and a dose of painkiller. She didn't fight him.

"Do you _ever_ take the armor off?" Zumi slipped off the table, wincing as her feet his the floor.

Boba turned away and started putting the supplies up. "I don't. Not unless I'm sleeping or changing my clothes. Or showering."

"That's weird," she muttered. Zumi took a few steps. Boba admired his handy work with the bandages. It was a fairly professional job, if he said so himself. He;d done a good job. He could rest on his laurels and get something to eat. "Do you wear clothes under that?"

"I wear a shipsuit." It was natural for her to be curious. Boba had maintained an aura of that on purpose. He was trying to stay cool and aloof, let them think that he wasn't caring about what was going on. He did, to a point. Zumi shouldn't have even crossed his path. He wasn't sure why he'd even done it, either. Boba climbed up the ladder to the ship's main body. Zumi followed somewhat awkwardly. He waited for her and pulled her up the last few steps. She looked like she needed the help. Boba wanted to show her that he wasn't just the killer bounty hunter. He had another side to him, too.

"Well, lucky me." Zumi crossed her arms and tapped one bandaged foot as she looked at the spare ship. "Um, I hate to say this, but I am a little hungry."

"I have nutrition bars under the counter. I haven't gotten supplies for a week because that slug didn't pay me." Boba sat his helm on a chair and settled down. Zumi sat awkwardly. She didn't seem to know what to do. "I suppose I can get better supplies than that."

"You're...just a human," Zumi softly said. "Just...like that clone who came through here. The one who was the assassin. The one who killed that officer in Jabba's throne room. Creed, they called him."

"I knew Creed," Boba growled. "He's crazy. He and his berserker." If anyone deserved to be put down, those two did. They were killers and hard to deal with. He didn't want them on his ship or anywhere near Zumi. And he knew for a fact that both of them were alive and well. They didn't play around when it came to stuff like killing someone.

"Oh." She crossed one leg over the other. "What do you want me to do, Master?"

"Call me Boba." He closed his eyes. "Go through some of the clothes I have. I'm not having someone I work with walking around dressed like a dancer. Ignore whatever those stupid posters the Guild puts up shows you. All the Twi'leks in the Guild dress like I do. Jabba is one sick bastard."

"Tell me something I don't know," she growled.

"Go." Boba settled down and gestured for her to go on. He wanted be left alone, if that was a crime. It probably was and he didn't care. He was tired and he'd probably made a very poor decision. Of course, he had to bring another person in on it because he was just that sort of person. He just screwed everything up. All he needed to do was let Jabba take care of a problem. Could he do that? Nope. He had to get involved in the middle of it.

What would his father have done? Probably the same thing, but adding in drinking with Tirsane afterwards. Boba groaned. Yep, that was despressing.

He was screwed, wasn't he?


	6. Skip 72, Smuggler's Run

Technically, Boba was a Guild sponsored hunter. That meant that he supposedly answered to Cradossk up in the main GuildHall. In fact, he did what he wanted when he wanted. It was a Fett thing. He might have the odd run in with one of his old friends, the pirate Captain Storm came to mind, but he was usually alone. Boba rather liked that. He hadn't ever wanted to train an Apprentice. It was just one of those things about him. Boba liked to be alone. Zumi seemed to know this. Boba wouldn't slight her for asking how to pilot. Boba was more than happy to teach her. _Slave 1_ handled easily. She didn't tend to buck around like some of the other ships did. A few Polaris types, like Storm's _Constant Marauder_ , did buck.

 _Slave 1_ 's steering yoke was easy to get the feel of. She could have a little play if things were just right, but they usually weren't. Most of the time, she was a smooth running little ship. She was of of KDY and probably the best ship Kattel had ever worked on. Chaos, Boba hoped to talk to her again. She was allied with the Rebellion, though, and had destroyed her shipyard rather than letting it fall into Imperial hands. Boba might disagree with her on politics, but she was one of the bravest people he knew because she'd destroyed her own shipyard. That took fire.

Boba knew the code to get into Skip 72. It was, quite literally, _One through Eight_ , _Backwards_. Just that. Just those four words and you could get into the underbelly of the galaxy. Lady Riyo Cuchi ran Rogue Command out of there, too. It had to be a pretty secure password. In fact, most referred to it as the most secure password in the galaxy. Boba wasn't there to discuss passwords, though. He was there to find the link to Cradossk and get his orders. The Trandoshan had told him this was important. How important, Boba didn't know. But he did know it was important enough that Cradossk himself wanted to set up a comm-call, not just trust the HoloNet to send it.

 _Slave 1_ brushed the outer entrance of the docking bays.

"Unidentified craft, state your name and the password," the dock master drawled. Boba sighed as he heard the voice. Wonderful. It looked like they had a clone on duty. Or, at least, something like that. Boba didn't want to deal with a man who called him brother. They might have shared the same DNA, but that was about it. He didn't want to go deal with that. He just wanted to get in, set up the secure comm-call, and deal with it.

" _Slave 1_. One through eight, backwards," Boba dryly said. "Captain is Boba Fett. Crew is Zumi Vel."

"Have a good day," the man said. Boba watched as the hangar doors slid open. Something seemed off. Boba bit his bottom lip as Zumi guided the old Firespray in the hanger. That was feeling bad. He was getting a bad feeling about this. As much as Boba was at loathe to admit it, he did trust his gut. Jango had taught him that much. He swore under his breath as they slipped in through what looked like a mostly empty dock. He didn't look back as the dock master pulled up the ionized curtain that kept the gasses **in** and the Void **out**. Something didn't feel right here. As much as Boba didn't like it, either.

They got out the dock. Zumi slung her blasters over her hip and matched his pace as they walked through the deserted dock. Boba muted his helm and called up his HUD. It looked like they did have several ships in there, but they were all Imperial cruisers. Boba's gut twisted. He really didn't like this. He still walked on, though, careful to look around. He put a hand to Zumi's green arm, stopping her. Something was off here. Something **big**.

The main body of the station was silent, except for a squadron of stormtroopers keeping watch. Boba slipped down one of the alleyways carved out by all the people who came before them. Skip 72 had been around for ages. She had been cut into the very rock itself. There were those who swore this had once been an old mining station, like EOTL and Paradise City, but Boba was pretty sure this rock had been made for rogues by rogues.

So why were there stormtroopers in the main square?

"Boba..." Zumi trailed off. There was fear in her eyes as she looked around. Boba followed her gaze, looking right up the alley.

A stormtrooper shoved his blaster under Boba's chin. "State your purpose, bounty hunting scum!"

"Cradossk called us." Zumi pushed forward, her hands up. Boba didn't trust himself to speak. "We aren't sure why, though. I promise we aren't  going to do anything illegal!"

The stormtrooper touched his comm. "Sucks to be you. I have orders to bring you both in on the suspicion of aiding and abetting the Rebellion."

Boba cursed. "I'm pretty sure we haven't done anything with the Rebels other than shoot at Mon Mothma."

Zumi took the hint. "It was a potshot. I missed. Don't you people have other things to do?"

"Sadly, no," the trooper growled. "Both of you...with me."

What choice did they have but to obey?


	7. A Meeting

There was no good reason for the Imperials to be on Skip 72. They were doing something. Boba had no idea what, nor did he want to know. He hoped this didn't have anything to do with his talking with Han Solo and Skywalker. He hadn't done much, only sent a few agents their way. Easy pickings, even for a farm boy. They might have been in trouble, but he hadn't cared. Now, as he marched through the city, Boba was suddenly regretting that. He gritted his teeth, though, and dealt with it. He'd been in worse situations.

Boba was technically part of the Guild. Usually, a threat of Guild sponsored lawyers was more than enough to make the odd Imperial grunt back off. Guild lawyers were smart and they had much more money than the ill paid Imperial grunt. That, and the Empire's own lawsuit laws would be more than enough to make the dogs back off. Boba tried to swallow his smile as they walked. Zumi looked scared beside him, but her gaze was still calm and resolute. Boba hoped it would stay that way. Chaos, but she was clever. Zumi might have even saved his life with her quick thinking.

 **That** took skill. And _tracyn_.

He looked at the dark tunnels they passed through, marking out the places where they'd gone. This part of Skip 72 had been carved out of rock. It was purposely left the way it was to keep the others out of it. Boba had had no real reason to pass through the Canal before. He'd pretty much left this area alone. This was the area where Rogue Command ruled. Bounty hunters weren't allowed.

"Are we done yet?" one of the troopers whined. Boba started as he heard the voice. It sounded like his! Was he talking to another clone? And that was when it hit him and he rolled his eyes behind his helm. Well, Riyo Chuchi did have a penchant for the dramatic. She had to be, what with the group of rogues she ran. It was an odd thing. She was able to manage all of this without going mad. Maybe it was that clone of hers, Chopper. Chopper had been tortured by life. He was getting better, Luke said, but that wasn't saying much.

"I think we are," Boba dryly said. "Hello, Chopper."

The trooper laughed. "Nice try. It's Scythe."

Zumi looked over at Boba before cracking a smile. "You guys are good! How did you get the dock to clear out, though?"

Scythe snorted as he pulled the helm off. He ran a hand through sweaty blonde hair, his hazel eyes sparkling with light. "Oh? That? Riyo paid them sixty credits a ship to clear out. It has to look real. The Imps are coming here. Our job is to either pay them off or fool them."

"So you practiced on us," Boba flatly said. He entered into Riyo's office, noting the clone sitting on a chair. One blue eye met his. The other, a hazel, looked away. "Hello, Chopper. Where's Riyo?"

Chopper looked at him before mumbling, "Coming."

Boba looked at Scythe. Scythe sighed and kicked the wall.

"We have good days and bad days," the younger trooper finally sighed. "Today is a bad day. Slick sometimes comes and helps, but he has a wife and a baby. He doesn't have the time for taking care of an injured clone." He bit his bottom lip as his eyes met Boba's. "So. Who's she?"

"Zumi Vel." Zumi crossed the room and shook Scythe's hands. "And why do you two know each other?"

"Kamino," Boba muttered. His eyes glazed over as he thought of the tortures he'd seen on that hell hole. "Hell with coordinates. The Kamies loved it. We...we hated it. I saw some things no kid should see. But Scythe....Scythe here is my friend."

Zumi nodded and smiled at Chopper. He smiled softly back. "I think he's going to do fine. Just give him some time."

"We are," Scythe replied. "He and Riyo are a...thing. They like each other quite a bit. Speaking of, how's that old bastard Tirsane? I haven't seen him in ages!"

"Still as drunk as ever," Boba grumbled. He looked at the clone and rolled his eyes behind his helm. He had an idea what this was about and wasn't quite sure if he liked the idea or not. He had a hunch it involved the Empire's latest prize...the smuggler Han Solo, Princess Leia, and the Last Jedi Luke Skywalker. Boba closed his eyes as he thought. This...was going to be interesting.


	8. Lady Riyo

There wasn't a rogue in the Far Rim who hadn't heard of Lady Riyo Chuchi or didn't claim to have seen her leading clones in battle with her Dark Saber. Where the woman got it, Boba would never know. But she had gone from being a tame, if a little feisty, Pantoran Senator, to a girl who lead clones in battle and blew up entire space stations. Boba had a little theory about women in battle. They were usually nastier than men, but they lacked the raw strength. Sometimes, though, what you needed was the cunning and the fear factor. Pantora, though, was one of those crazy societies where all women were good for was the home and the Senate. To see her, Lady Riyo, out there kicking some serious _sheb_...Boba liked that.

Zumi twitched beside him. She seemed to be a little on the active side, probably from her time as a dancer. She was still faster than he was by a long shot. Even with a little bit of armor weighing her down and the long tunics she preferred. Boba wasn't grudging it. "So... Lady Riyo. Not exactly familiar with her, here."

"She's a major rebel." That was the basics of the facts. That much she should have known. Then again, Jabba was friendly with the Imperials, not Rogue Command. There had been some altercation involving the clones and Lady Riyo herself. It had ended with sever chunks of C4 blowing a few of Jabba's droids to hell. Boba wasn't clear on all the details and he wasn't fool enough to ask.

The Pantoran woman herself slipped in the room and rolled her eyes. Chopper had sprawled himself over the chair and had his boots on the desk. "Really, Chopper? Really?"

"'S comfortable." He didn't even look at her. Riyo sighed and beat a tattoo on her thigh with her fingers. Boba took a good look at her. Her cheek markings had been burned off of one cheek with blaster fire and her hair was a little singed back. She wore a simple tunic and pants, nothing fancy. He did note the Dark Saber across her back. Supposedly, the weapon was a gift from Darth Maul after he didn't want it anymore. Riyo took it and used it. "I wanna go back to sleep."

"You're in my chair, Mister." Riyo picked up his boots and plonked then on the floor. Chopper yelped. bolted up, and went pelting down the hall. Riyo sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Sometimes, I swear he's five years old again."

Zumi laughed. "I could say that about Boba."

"Watch it. I write your paycheck," Boba growled. He lounged against the wall and locked eyes with Riyo. She brushed back her violet hair and started pulling out a data pad. "So...I assume you have a reason for this? Or are you going to just call me here for tea and crumpets? That's not your style, Riyo. Didn't you take lessons from _Storm_ , of all people?"

"Storm is an alliance, nothing more," Riyo explained. "And you're right--she is driven by revenge and that makes her insane. But I'm not going to deny that her methods bring the results we need."

"So blowing a hole in a cloning facility and killing thirty nine stormtroopers is the results you need?" Boba asked. "Might I remind you that she's bloody ruthless!"

"Captain Storm is good for doing the rough jobs," Riyo sighed. She gave him a long look and passed Boba a data pad. "Here. This has all the details you need on it. Not that I don't trust you, but after that Inquisitor who passed himself off as a Rebel... I'm a little wary. And Storm took him out, too. Blew his ship with with three pounds of some kind of explosive. I'm not sure how she does it."

Boba flipped through it, noting the fact about Jabba, Han Solo, Leia, and Luke Skywalker. "Jabba hates me at the moment. I might have ruined his merry murder mayhem time with a couple of well placed blaster bolts."

 Zumi rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

"Does he hate you enough for six thousand credits?" Riyo asked.

Boba swallowed. "No."

"Do we have a deal?" Riyo gave him a cool smile and Boba wondered how much she'd learned from a certain crazy pirate.

"We do," Boba said. They shook on it and Boba downloaded the orders. Huh. He would have thought it was harder to betray the Empire than that.


	9. Déjà vu

He wasn't going to ask Zumi to walk across the desert with him, even if it was just a distance of two or so miles. To this day, seeing the trail of bloody footprints in the sand would haunt him. He'd never be able to get that image out of his mind. He hadn't know Zumi then. He'd thought that she would have boots, not be a barefooted dancer struggling after her savior in Mandalorian armor. Boba wasn't a hero, no matter what Zumi thought. He was a bounty hunter who sometimes worked in the side of the good guys.

But who knew who the good guys were in this war. All wars were like that, if you asked Boba. His only friends on Kamino had been a standoffish older clone, trained to be an assassin, and a kid named Jax. A cadet, like Boba had pretended to be. And Boba wasn't going to play nice and say that he'd been an innocent little angel during that time. He had opted to space a few of the cadets (his _brothers_ ) rather than defy his partners. Boba still felt sick over that one. He'd let those kids get captured, all because he wanted to get revenge rather than taking care of the younger brothers who needed him.

The hot desert heat crashed over his skin as he walked through the old shipyard. Beside him, Zumi walked. She didn't look like she was very pleased to be back here. That was okay. Boba understood that. This was the place where she had been used as a slave. There was no telling what had gone on in these halls and Boba wasn't fool enough to ask. He didn't want to get her death glare.

"I hate sand." Zumi paused on the carved sandstone steps, glaring at the grains that had gotten all over her tunic. Boba didn't remark on the cut. "It's coarse, it's nasty, and it itches in nasty places. Can you wonder why?"

"No," Boba dryly said. "I'm stumped." He still rolled his eyes and walked on. As much as he hated to admit it, Zumi had grown on him. He had gotten used to the comfort of having another person with him. "I hate sand, too."

"Yeah, that seems to be the thoughts of everyone on this forsaken planet," a new voice said.

Boba jumped, only to see a young Luke Skywalker grinning from the corner. "You're Skywalker?"

"Yeah." The kid grinned and tossed back his blonde hair. "Kriff, you must have jumped an inch!" He grinned to himself before settling back down into far too grim an expression for such a young face. Boba wondered what had happened. Solo hadn't been one of his kills, otherwise he wouldn't have been frozen in carbonite. Boba had tools of his own, including shock sticks. As much as he hated those things, after seeing the trainers punish Jax and the others, they were useful. You could control a man with those _without_ burning him.

_Though I'll be willing to bet those guards didn't give a damn about not hurting us._

"Don't do that to a bounty hunter," Boba growled. "We tend to be jumpy and I'm no different than the rest. Not unless you truly want to get killed."

Skywalker shrugged. "I'll remember that." He hooked his thumbs in his belt and gave Boba a long look. "So...I'm not sure what Riyo told you, but Han screwed up...finally. Leia's coming in a bit with Chewie. Supposedly, according to our Fulcrum, it can take a lot of guys to contain a Wookiee. Anyways, we're just the dumb muscle."

Zumi snickered. "Boba can do the dumb part. Not so sure about the muscle."

Boba decided to let the insult slide. It was almost show time. As much as Boba didn't want to be here, and as much as he knew Zumi didn't want to, either, he knew they had little choice in the matter. The Rebellion had luck on their side. As much as Boba liked to think highly of himself, he knew he couldn't keep outwitting Old Furtuna forever. He had to keep going, had to look ahead. Boba knew what he needed to do as much as he disliked doing it.

Still, he was getting a bad feeling about this as he joined the group going inside the warrens of Jabba's palace.


	10. Frozen in Carbonite

Boba really didn't want to go back through Jabba's palace. The last time he'd been there, he'd made a mess. He'd freed a slave and really pissed the fat Hutt off. And that was not what you wanted to do if you wanted to stay alive out here. Jabba basically owned this dustball. The last person he'd heard of pissing Jabba off and living was a Zabrak Sith enamored with a sixteen year old slave girl. That incident had involved a speeder bike chase and a lightsaber duel out in the desert. Apparently that slave girl was important to the Jedi Chosen One.

She wasn't supposed to be kissing some Sith. If you asked the Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn. And then he'd pulled a Lord Vader: Maul! I am your father!

That didn't stop the Zabrak from stabbing him and running off. Jabba had sent bounty hunters after him. Apparently, that slave girl had been a favorite around his palace. But Jabba had forgotten one thing about the Sith, though. If they claimed something as theirs...you didn't get it back. **Ever**. Especially if the Sith had been sleeping with the slave girl and she was going to have his kid. He'd killed every single one of the bounty hunters until they all backed off.

A dark skinned woman wearing scavenged Mandalorian armor stopped him as he walked inside. "Ain't seen you in a blue moon."

"Kateel." Boba inclined his head, wincing. It was always awkward to run into your ex. Especially when she had her young apprentice, Chevron, with her. Boba had his thoughts about who Chevie's father was--himself. But Kateel had never brought it up and Kateel never pressed the point. Instead, she dropped on a large throw pillow. Chevron sat beside her. Mother and daughter shared the same facial structure and long, dark hair. But Chevron's eyes were hazel instead of a liquid onyx like Kateel's. "What brings you here?"

"Damned Imperials." Kateel stretched out, her onyx eyes like chips of midnight. "They want Chevie for the Academy."

"I said I'd gut 'em," Chevie growled. She touched the chevron tattoos on her cheek. And, for a second, the illusion surrounding her dropped. A young girl with a cat's golden eyes glanced back at him. Kateel never said this, but she had a little Cathar blood. Not enough to show, but enough that she had a few powers in the Force and a cat's golden eyes. The two could cast illusions, though, and that saved them. But then the illusion came back up again and Boba couldn't see the pointed ears or the cat's eyes of sunrise gold.

"Good on you." Boba walked away and prayed to all the gods he'd ever heard of that he hadn't accidentally slept with a Cathar hybrid and made a child. Because that was just going to make a mess if the Imps ever got wind of that.

Zumi gave him a long look as they fanned out around Luke. "Who was that?"

"Kateel of Kuat, also known as Special Operative Kateel Arra," Boba explained. "And her daughter, Chevron Arra-Savano." He wasn't going to mention that "savano" was the Kuati word for "Daughter of Mandalore".

That was not going to go well, when he did get around to messing with it.

Jabba turned his fat head towards the small group. _**<** What_, ** _>_** he demanded, _**<** Do you want? **>**_

Luke bowed his head. "You want to give us Han Solo back." When he raised his head, the kid's eyes were molten gold. Boba felt himself shiver. Mace Windu's eyes had been that freaky gold color right before he killed Jango. Now, he might have been on the Jedi Council, but to hear his clones talk about him...the man was a closet Sith. One of his clones, a guy named Verd (actually, Mace had dubbed him Dog), had talked about what he'd do. It was scary...and the guy's eyes had turned the color of molten gold.

The Twi'lek behind him laughed. "He'll do no such thing, young Jedi!" And then the slimy white creature picked up a disc of molten gold with carved crystal. Boba's heart dropped.

Jabba the Hutt had a Shadow Knight amulet.

Boba looked over at the statue of Han Solo, pressed against the wall. It looked like Greedo had finally done what he was supposed to do...and Jabba had tossed the poor bastard in the Sarlacc Pit, from what Kateel had told him in Mando'a sign language.

It looked like they were in for a mess.


	11. The Jedi Child

Boba knew that dealing with Jabba took time and patience. You couldn't rush it. You had to go along with him and try not to shoot an Amulet out of the Twi'lek's hands. Beside him, Zumi muttered something under her breath. Kateel and Chevie stood with him. Boba drew his blaster and tried to take a deep breath. He needed to take this bastard out before he hurt someone else. He still remembered his fellow cadets, the ones he'd been forced to space. Thank the gods that Anakin Skywalker had been in a good mood and saved them. There was a lot of red in his ledger.

He stepped forward. "We have credits. And you need to be careful with Shadow Knight shit. Some of it's cursed."

The Twi'lek gave him a sly smile and Boba's heart lurched. You could tell the big slug wasn't doing well. Something was poisoning him...and it looked to be the necklace the Twi'lek had tricked him into wearing. "Master Jabba says that he won't take your Imperial credits."

There was a hiss like escaping gas. Boba turned around and saw the illusion slip off of Kateel's face. She might have had no problem with her blood kin banging a clone and a Twi'lek, but she was more than enough to kill that Twi'lek. Cat gold eyes stared at the two and Boba felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck. Kateel stalked forwards, a knife slipping into her slender, long fingered hand. A quick glance made Chevie stay back. Boba pulled Leia to one side and grabbed his blaster. The woman glared at him, but not before a blaster appeared in her hand.

Boba grabbed his blaster and shot the medallion. The Twi'lek screamed and dove for cover. The resulting explosion rocked the entire palace and threw everyone aside. Boba scrambled to his feet. Zumi grabbed the princess and started pulling her out of danger. The princess cursed under her breath, but Boba ignored it and focused on getting to the big slab of carbonite. He looked at the blinking lights. Why had he thought it a good idea not to learn Morse code? Because it was outdated, or so he thought. Boba swore and started pounding on the clasps with his blaster.

He could see the kid, Luke, swinging a lightsaber around. "What the kark are you doing, kid?!"

"Covering you!" Luke dove at a bad guy and sliced his arm off. The Weequay screamed and ran. Boba grimaced, but he finally shot the control panel. _That_ did it. The thing just fell apart and Boba grabbed a coughing, sputtering Solo to his feet. A Wookie roared and started running for them. Boba ducked a swung blaster shit and aimed a few at the ceiling. He dove to one side, threw Solo a few feet, and screamed as a chunk of masonry pinned him to the ground. The Wookiee tossed it off. Boba tried to get to his feet, but he couldn't feel his legs.

The Wookiee scooped him up and asked if he had been eating rocks.

"I can't--I can't feel my legs!" Boba struggled in the Wookie's grip. The creature tightened his arm and took the  hint. He struggled for breath, panting. He couldn't feel his legs. **He**. **Couldn't**. **Feel**. **His**. **_Legs_**. "T-t-thanks, ya fur ball."

The Wookiee told him not to mention it.

Boba grabbed his bowcaster and started loosing bolts. The Wookiee screamed at him, probably because of the singed fur. He looked over and saw Zumi dragging Solo along. The Jedi kid was still fighting them as they raced out. Boba clutched the creature's fur and watched from the outside as the ceiling caved in. He took a shuddering breath, unaware of the tears stinging his eyes.

"What happened?!" Leia dragged them over.

"I can't feel my legs!" Boba was gasping, but he didn't know what else to do! There was fear in his gaze and he wondered what had gone wrong. Leia grabbed him by the shoulders. Boba tried getting up, but his legs refused to work. "I can't feel my legs!"

"We have to go!"

"What about our ship?!" Zumi yelped.

"Kark your ship, he's got a spinal cord injury!" Luke yelled. "We have to go!"

And that was when Boba thankfully blacked out.


	12. Life After

Boba wasn't sure how long he was out. But he knew one thing...his days of being a kick ass bounty hunter were **over**. How could you do things like that if your spine had been crushed under falling rock? He'd been more than hurt. His career had been killed. He had done the "right thing", yes, only to get injured because of it. Was there a reason for him to do that, beyond the fact that he had just wanted to be something different for once? To be a hero instead of the most feared and hated bounty hunter in the history of the galaxy?

But Solo was permanently blinded from the carbonite.

"So we got the lame guy and the blind guy?" Solo joked. He leaned back on the chair, smiling at him. Or, in the direction of his face. Everyone had learned not to move the furniture pretty quickly enough. Not that anyone messed with the _Falcon_. They had treated it like crap before. Well, why should they treat it any differently now that they had two men with debilitating injuries? It hadn't helped that Boba had been an active man before the incident. And if he _ever_ found the bastard who had made that damned Amulet... Spinal cord injury or not, he was going to kill them. That was the long and the short of it. They had set him up to be brutally injured. In all his years of bounty hunting, he had tried to avoid wounds like **that**.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Boba dryly said. He leaned back as best he could. There were things called exoskeletons. Leia was looking into it. Something about saving one of the Rebellion's Generals tended to make you a hero. And, as such, people wanted to do nice things for you. Boba was still chewing over that when he rubbed his back. He pinched himself, only to feel nothing when he did so. Why did he gave to get cursed with partial paralysis when he had a hot Twi'lek girlfriend? Boba also wondered where he'd gotten his conscious and where he could return it.

"Hey, I still got my good looks! I'm not the guy snarling at the doctor--"

"I have a healthy fear of needles, Solo. It's from being raised on Kamino. Your hair, by the way, looks like some shag rug had kits with a Wookiee." Boba settled back in the hoverchair and crossed his arms. "I'm smiling in smug triumph."

"And I just killed you in pazaak. Twice!"

"I can out shoot you any day, flyboy!" Boba wondered if he should mention the bird, but thought better of it. "Unlike you, I can fly a ship that isn't a chunk of junk."

"And I'm not the guy who got pinned under a rock," Han muttered.

"Low blow, Solo." Boba growled a little at that. As per the doctor's orders, he wasn't supposed to drink any booze. And he could really do with a few shots after being forced to be social. But if he was trying to make Zumi happy... Why the hell did it make him feel bad if she wasn't?! There were some days he just didn't get himself! And it was really, really annoying. "At least I'm not the blind guy trying to figure out which twin to kiss!"

"No, you're so dense that you can't see your hand in front of your face!"

"Excuse me?! I, at least, can see!" Boba shot back.

Solo threw up his hands. "Vel wants to get laid!"

**_Oh._ **

"Well, I can't exactly move down there!" Boba snapped. And now he was bright red... Very, very glad that Solo could not see his face, too. Because he was probably red enough to boil a pot of water on. And that took _skill_ to do.

"That's why you go to the doctor," Solo stage whispered. "So you can get un-paralyzed."

Boba raised his hand. "Princess! Your boyfriend is annoying the hell out of me!"

The only response he got was Solo tossing a pillow in his general direction. Boba returned the favor and squawked when the Wookiee mock chased him. Was this what it was like to have a family? If so...sign him up.


End file.
